MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Acting US Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller made a secret visit to Somalia on Friday, his first ever to the war-torn nation and the last in a four country swing on his first trip abroad since assuming office after Donald Trump fired former holder of the position Mark Esper.
Mr Miller stayed at Mogadishu’s international airport for a few hours, where he met with some of the US troops deployed there after traveling from US military base Camp Lemonnier in neighboring Djibouti.
The Pentagon later said the purpose of his trip was to meet with troops during the Thanksgiving holiday and it comes amid reports that the administration plans to pull out all of the roughly 700 US troops in Somalia before Joe Biden assumes office on January.
Acting US Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller’s visit also comes days after it was reported that he had proposed to Qatar’s emir to explore ways to negotiate with Al-Shabaab, an Islamist group the US believes poses significant threat to its interests.
Somali federal government has not immediately commented on Mr Miller’s visit to the capital Mogadishu.
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